A Sermon
for the 15th Sunday after the Pentecost (RCL A) 9-25-2011
Offered by
Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry
Texts: Exodus
17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Matthew 21:23-32
Themes: complaining,
water from the rock, John the Baptist, righteousness
Title: What
do you think?
We have just heard this brief little
parable from the mouth of Jesus which was originally given to convict the chief
priests and the elders of their lack of faithfulness, their corruption, their
hypocrisy.
This parable was given in just the same
way as the prophet Nathan delivered his parable to King David after he
contrived the murder of Uriah the Hittite (see this great story at 2 Samuel 12:1-15). Both parables were very cleverly delivered to
create an opportunity for the hearers to indirectly convict themselves.
It is intended to challenge the assumed
authority of the chief priests and elders to provide spiritual guidance for the
people. But here in this short parable from the Lord, he asks a question of these
supposed leaders which has a deeply profound meaning for all of us.
“Which of the two (sons) did the will of
his father?”
In the original Greek text, the last
phrase actually reads “the will of the father” (ta thelayma tou patros). It is a
turn of phrase which is fairly common here in the Gospel of Matthew, but every
other usage refers to the will of the One whom Jesus called “Abba”.
The will of the Father. Now I ask you: what
image does that conjure up in your mind?
What idea do you think of when you consider the will of God?
Do you think of a cold, static,
determined course of events, like the ancients use to think of fate determining
the course of their life?
Or do you think of the active, dynamic
desire of One who is inherently creative, like the will of the artist guiding
the creation of a brilliant new painting on canvas?
For most of us, I suspect that we have
been conditioned to think in the former categories; that is, to think of the
will of God as a set of cold, hard directives by which God is determining the
course of history. And with this concept comes the idea of the will of God as
something about which we no control or influence at all. It is certain, it is
fixed, it is unwavering; and we are subject to it.
But, iIn contrast to that idea, consider
once again this parable given to us in Matthew’s Gospel. Which one of these two
sons does the will of the father? The father comes to each one in due course and
communicates his desire for that day.
Here, in these words, we are given a
glimpse of God’s will as the desire of God, the longing of God, the passion of
God. What this Father longs for more than anything else is that the entire
family works together toward one goal and purpose: to have a healthy vineyard
and an abundant harvest.
There is no discussion. There is no
debate. There is only desire and communication. The father’s desire is
communicated clearly and directly to the sons.
Note how the father represents God, and
the sons represent humanity. God communicates God’s desire, God’s hopes, God’s
longing for the human family - in this
case, that the sons work faithfully in the father’s vineyard.
But never is there any sense of
coercion. Each son is free to make his own choice in his own time.
It is the visionary Dame Julian of
Norwich who spoke and wrote of God as “our courteous Lord”, as the strong and
mighty One who is so courteous and respectful of human beings as to act toward
us always with politeness and chivalry. God calls, God offers, God
communicates, and God opens the door to life together in the kingdom.
We, of course, are free to receive, to
reply, to go and work in the vineyard. This is the voluntary principle, and it
is at the very heart of the Gospel. ****
You know that it is very rare for me
ever to venture into the realm of politics. Faithful Christians over the years
have taken up many divergent position on all the thorny and difficult issues at
work in our common life, and I am not competent to provide any definitive guidance
on many of these issues.
But I will draw your attention to this
one principle of life in God’s kingdom which has implications for all human beings
in every aspect of life. All people everywhere instinctively reject coercion
and compulsion. The freedom and ability to choose, to make one’s own choices
for direction in life, is so profoundly sacred to the human soul.
Everything in the kingdom of God flows
out of this voluntary principle. We are free to choose life in the kingdom with
our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are free to choose a different path, a different
teacher, a different mentor.
Whether it is in our household, in our
local parish, in the broader church, in our city or town, or in our national
life, we can be certain that if we walk down the path of compulsion and
coercion, we have wandered off of the path of God’s will, God’s desire, God’s
longing for humanity.
Of course, to be honest, it becomes very
difficult to think about this parable and this voluntary principle and how to
apply it to our family life. To be practical, if I go to my son and say, “Son,
go and clean in the bathroom today” (and this does happen every week, by the way!, and he says, “I will not”, then I can
assure you that I’m not about to simply walk away and go over to our second
child and make the very same request, with the hopes that she might follow it!
There would be consequences if I received that kind of attitude from my son!
He’s not allowed to say “I will not clean the bathroom” without facing negative
consequences. Amen?
That is a reality of our parenting process
and of his growth and maturation. At this point, we have to apply some level of
coercion, because our children are not yet ready to make their own responsible
decisions (even though our son is convinced that he already knows more than we
do!)
So we parents have to compel our
children to help, with care and patience, of course.
However, the goal always remains the
same: that each of our children will reach a point where they can make the
choice to help us of their own free will, simply because they desire to be of
service, they desire to do what is right, and they desire to please us.
This is where the will – or the desire –
of God connects squarely with our wills – our desires.
We are the sons in this parable, and we
have to ask ourselves: what is it that we truly want?
Martin Smith, the Senior Associate
Rector at St. Columba’s Church in Washington, DC, has suggested that the Gospel
is in fact the place where God’s desires and our deepest human desires meet and
merge together.
God longs and desires to see human
beings working together in a community of compassion and justice, where the poor
are fed and the naked are clothed and the sick are tended, where we love one
another as we love ourselves.
But God will never coerce us into that
community. And God is not interested in hollow words and empty promises. We
have to want it. We have to desire it along with God.
And that is what happens when we draw
near to Christ. For then do our hearts become transformed to reflect the heart
of God, and God’s desires become our desires, and we can labor together with
joy in the vineyard of the Lord.
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